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For my wife and I living in the BX, we buy the bulk of our food at once on a monthly basis. For meat our expense is usually about $60-$85. We get most of the rest of our food at BJ's (the one in Pelham, NY can't stand the one in the Bronx). Excluding the other stuff we usally get at BJ's I'd say we spend about $150 on food. But sometimes we can really stretch out the stuff we buy at BJ's and we don't have to go back for a while, more than a month.
One thing that we have been doing lately that has been saving us a lot is that we pretty much don't buy soda ever. We pretty much only drink fruit juice, tea we make at home, or water. Also neither of us likes things overly sweet and we find that most fruit juice is too sweet so we mix it with water. Not only do we prefer the taste that way but it takes much much longer for us to finish the juice that way.
Last edited by NooYowkur81; 06-26-2012 at 11:47 AM..
Add up ALL food expenses for the month of July. I'll bet you are in for a rude awakening.
Don't forget that coffee in the morning, the donut at 10, the lunch out, that special dinner, the milk, eggs, butter, cheese cold-cuts, cereal, ice cream that you DIDN'T get at BJ's.
If you have kids do they have lunch?
A lot of the meat I eat is $0.69-0.79/pound chicken legs from Pathmark/Key Food/Fine Fare, packaged lunchmeat, Chinese sausages, and ground pork/beef. I also eat a lot of frozen food (you can get a 410 calorie pie with meat in it for 80 cents or so on discount sometimes).
I wish I could get my protein that cheap, that's a really good deal for chicken legs.
Add up ALL food expenses for the month of July. I'll bet you are in for a rude awakening.
Don't forget that coffee in the morning, the donut at 10, the lunch out, that special dinner, the milk, eggs, butter, cheese cold-cuts, cereal, ice cream that you DIDN'T get at BJ's.
If you have kids do they have lunch?
Do a tab for a month. Include everything.
Yeah I know summer you tend to splurge more. The weather, not wanting to cook indoors, being out more, vacations, etc...expenses definitely go up during the peak summer months.
Since this is the thread to talk about food, there is question that buzzing in my head for awhile and google doesn't have an answer for this. So, might I ask what is kind of meal American eat daily?
I means, sure, I know stuff that sell in the restaurant like pasta, spaghetti, cooked meat stuff, fast food.... And something in nearly every movie like breafast with sunny side egg, bacon, pickle, bread, orange juice. But what about lunch and dinner?
FYI, I'll be in NY at fall and I need information to keep my budget at bay by cooking at my place. Us asians usually eat cooked rice with meat and veggie for lunch and dinner almost everyday of the year. Sometimes ramen and noodle for a change but that's it, and I know european/ american didn't eat that much rice.
Thanks for reading.
It depends, don't forget Americans come from all sorts of different ethic backgrounds and sometimes that factors in to the kind of food we eat. For dinner I don't eat a lot of pasta since I'm eastern european . My starches are normally rice, potatoes or kasha. I like soba noodles instead of regular pasta (I don't like wheat pasta to be honest). I eat a LOT of meat, and only make starch side dishes half of the time, normally I eat a side veggies with my meat entree for dinner. I eat a fair amount of bread but that's almost only with sandwiches during lunch (convenience). When I don't eat sandwiches I love soups, salads or a cheese plate of some kind. I eat a lot of dairy.
If you're looking to save money on Asian groceries I'd recommend grocery shopping in Chinatown. They sell fresh veggies really cheap, large sacks of rice, and they've got very reasonable prices for meat and seafood.
I've noticed most of the supermarkets in Latin neighborhoods will give you a deal on rice if you buy over a certain amount usually 50 or 100. You get the bag half off or sometimes even free.
Another tip is to actually shop from the circulars. Americans tend to be very brand loyal I know, but most food stuff is pretty similar honestly. Don't always shop particular brands...
Add up ALL food expenses for the month of July. I'll bet you are in for a rude awakening.
Don't forget that coffee in the morning, the donut at 10, the lunch out, that special dinner, the milk, eggs, butter, cheese cold-cuts, cereal, ice cream that you DIDN'T get at BJ's.
If you have kids do they have lunch?
Do a tab for a month. Include everything.
The coffee and the donut, lunches at work dont count as groceries....we're talking stuff u buy to consume at home. My newspapers, coffees, cigarettes and beer are a personal expense.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
The coffee and the donut, lunches at work dont count as groceries....we're talking stuff u buy to consume at home. My newspapers, coffees, cigarettes and beer are a personal expense.
I'm pretty good about that stuff. I avoid starf***s. Pack a lunch whenever I can. Take full advantage of library card. It makes a big difference...
I'm pretty good about that stuff. I avoid starf***s. Pack a lunch whenever I can. Take full advantage of library card. It makes a big difference...
I treat myself to a nice 20 dollar lunch on paydays but that's it. I have actually compiled a list (and it's on my desk) of places by my job where I can get lunch for 5 bucks or less if I don't bring from home. I think I have patronized Starbucks twice in my whole life and one of those times I didn't pay.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
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